Porsche: F1 not road relevant enough

Porsche says it decided to pursue an LMP1 programme in sportscars as it was more relevant to its road cars than F1

Porsche has revealed that it decided against a possible move into F1 because the sport wasn't relevant enough to its road car division.

Although there has been much speculation in recent years that the German marque could be set to join the Formula One grid, Porsche has instead elected to focus on a new sportscar programme that will see it go head-to-head with Audi and Toyota in the LMP1 class of the World Endurance Championship from 2014 onwards.

The new hybrid car is set to start testing later this year with technology being used on the new racing machine also being carried over to Porsche's latest road-going model.

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The ability to transfer such technology meant sportscars remained a more logical choice for the brand, with head of R&D Wolfgang Hatz admitting that F1 didn't provide the same opportunities.

"We are a sports car company," Hatz was quoted by Autocar. "Porsche has always lived for the transfer of racing to production cars. For that reason it was clear two or three years ago that we had to be back in high-level motorsport, and it was a choice between top-flight sports cars or Formula 1.

"But the final decision was the only logical one. F1 was an alternative, but the road relevance is not there. Also, there is a lot of publicity around politics and tyres, but not so much about the engines and chassis.

"The aero, too, is incredible, but so extreme that it cannot result in any development in our road car understanding."

Red Bull's Mark Webber has been linked with Porsche for 2014, although that move has been played down by both parties.